Susans war
by yellow 14
Summary: An Ace Combat/W.I.T.C.H fic. Part 1 of 2
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : I don't own W.I.T.C.H and I don't own Ace Combat. Versua is, as far as I can tell the creation of brilliant fanfic writer Johnny Frost.

AN: This is a W.I.T.C.H/Ace Combat fic but the events in this one does not relate to events in the game Ace Combat Squadron Leader. Use of the letter g refers to the g-force being experienced by the pilots. G-force refers to the increase in gravitational force on an object.

Chapter one: Young love and old hatred.

Karcra airbase 10 miles from the Versuan/Yuktobonian border 10:44 hours

A young redheaded man gazed at his girlfriend. Susan Vandom was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, but she was not just a pretty face, oh no. At 22 years old she was already a squadron leader. Ok so it was a squadron of Mig 21's based on the Versuan/Yuktobonian border, an area nobody wanted to go, but to be given the rank of squadron leader at such relatively young age still meant that her superiors were impressed with her. Swallowing, he removed the box from his coat pocket and got down on one knee. "Susan Vandom" He began "Will you marry me?"

Looking at the man in front of her, Susan Vandom was numb-plussed. They had been a couple for six years and she loved him through and through. In an instant her mind was made up. "Charles Mann, I accept." And with that she kissed him.

Ho-Chang airfield, 20 miles south of the Versuan/Yuktobonian border.

General Ali looked at his pilots. They were the keys to the success of his most daring strategy yet. In 20 minutes they would do the unbelievable and hand over the keys to Yuktobonia's industrial heartlands. Bringing his hand up to his forehead, he saluted them. "You are the first wave of our revenge on Yuketobonia. They shall pay for stealing the land of our forefathers. Now go fourth to vengeance, and glory." For Susan Vandom and Charles Mann, the plans of General Ali were going to have a major impact on their plans.

AN: I'm thinking of simply releasing a large number of plot bunny beginnings and then simply finishing them one at a time. If nothing else it would ensure that the names I want for my stories are available. What do you think? As always read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Elizabetta Gnone and Disney own W.I.T.C.H. Ace Combat is owned by Namco and as far as I can tell Versua is owned by Johnny Frost.

AN: The term splash refers to an air to air kill. Splash one is a missile kill and splash two is a kill with a cannon. Pilots who achieve five kills or more are classified as aces.

The attack came without warning. Six Mirage III's and four Hawker Hunters screamed in at low level and began strafing the airfield. The airbases sole anti-aircraft weapon, a ZSU 23 began to pepper the sky with shells and pilots rushed to their planes. A bomb from a Mirage III hit the aircrew lounge, destroying it completely. Susan's plane was already in the air, flying a standard combat air patrol (CAP) with Charles. Pulling her plane into a turn, Susan's fighter came up behind the final Mirage III as it finished its bombing run. As it floated into her sights, her 23mm cannon spat and the Mirage exploded.

"This is Lightning. Splash two." She called over the radio.

"This is Pulse. Splash one, splash one" Charles called out a second later.

Susan grinned to herself. She didn't know where these hostiles were from, but between her and Charles you could bet that they wouldn't be here long. Switching her radio to transmit she said "Well done Pulse. Care to place a bet on who's going to get the most bad guys?"

"You're on! Loser buys the beer" he replied, and with a laugh he pulled his into a hard 9g turn, turning the tables on the Hunter that was on his tail. Suddenly a new voice boomed over the radio "This is Judgement. I'll take that bet. I'll have a Budweiser."

Susan frowned briefly. She didn't know any pilot on her squadron with the codename Judgement, but before she could ponder this any further an Osean F-5 Tiger II flashed past her and she realised who Judgement was. "Well hurry up then, or there'll none left" she called. Without further ado, she pulled her fighter onto the tails of two Mirages and the familiar diamond shape of a missile lock glided across her HUD (head up display) and onto the tails of the Mirages. With a brief shudder, two R-60 missiles left her wing pylons and tore the Mirages to pieces. Out the corner of her eye she saw Judgement shoot a sidewinder into the tailpipe of a Hunter. This Osean guy was good she'd give him that.

The remaining two Hunters and the sole Mirage III started to flee, but they reckoned without Susan's anger at having her base attacked. Hitting her afterburners, Susan caught up with the Hunters first. The rearmost Hunter never saw her until his plane was riddled with cannon shells. His partner pulled up, but it was too late, cannon shells riddled his plane to. The final plane, the Mirage looked set to get away as Susan's guns hissed empty, but a sidewinder missile from Judgement dealt with that.

"Right, this is Lightning. All fighters, return to base."

The situation on the ground was not good. Most of the pilots had been relaxing in the pilot's lounge when the attack came. The trouble was, no one had expected the Versuans to have any sort of airborne capability, much less the ability to launch an attack like this. Out of a squadron of twelve pilots, only five remained, one of whom was injured badly and unable to fly. "So you are sure that our attackers are Versuans then?" Susan asked her intelligence officer Peter Ryan. "Without a doubt" he replied. "The planes that you shot down bore the insignia of a Versuan warlord who calls himself General Ali. More importantly" he continued "they were led by one of General Ali's trusted men, a man named Shian

A-Shinju, a man notorious for his atrocities across the region."

Susan came to a decision quickly. If the Versuans were planning to attack en masse then reinforcements would be needed and fast. Walking into her office, she called General Azeridge, the supreme commander of all the forces in this area and informed him of the situation. Then she collapsed into her chair, crying salty tears for her dead comrades. It was then that Charles came in and held her in a gentle hug until she finished, gently comforting her, while she cried.

It wasn't until she finished that she realised that she had just officially become an ace. A grim smile played on her face. That term sounded so much more hollow now.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See page 1

AN: When a squadron scrambles, it means that they have launched their fighters rapidly.

Susan walked into the briefing room and scanned the ranks of pilots sitting there. Built to hold twenty people at a push, the room looked distressingly empty. The survivors of the attack were sitting in a clump, almost as though they were scared to let each other go.

There were two exceptions. In the right hand corner sat a tall dark-skinned Osean man, one of twenty Osean pilots who were selected for a four-week pilot exchange and spread across Yuktobonia. His name was Lieutenant Lionel Cook aka Judgement. At the other end sat Lieutenant Elena Blade aka Ferret. Generally disliked, Elena was noteworthy for spreading rumours, regardless of whether they were true or not.

"Right, listen up. As of today we are mounting full wartime procedures. We will have defensive combat air patrols in the air at all times. We don't know if today was a one off or the beginning of something bigger, but I'm determined not to get caught on the hop again." Susan paused. "I know that we only have five pilots available but we're the best pilots in the air force. If we can't do it, who can?"

Lionel put his hand up. "If it's ok with you, I'd like to volunteer myself into your ranks. Its not like I'll get in trouble for it, I'm on the edge of retirement." Before adding "Besides I've got some combat experience and I reckon you could use that."

Susan smiled. The Osean pilot was a fairly popular addition to the squadron with his sharp sense of humour and impressive charm. He was right. They really could use all the help they could get. She could feel it in her bones. She didn't want to leave Teresa Cook a widow though so she asked him. "Are you sure? I don't want to have to explain to your wife if you die."

Lionel just looked at her. "Squadron Leader Susan Vandom." He began "There is no way I'm gonna get killed by these third rate amateurs."

Susan was about to thank him when Peter Ryan rushed in with an urgent message from a regiment at the Versuan/Yuktobonian border requesting immediate support. They were under attack by a huge contingent of Versuan troops supported by fighters. Without further ado, the squadron scrambled.

Squadron Leader Carl Zeph smiled as he looked down at the scene below. His pilots were performing their job reasonably well given their lack of training. Despite the Yukes fierce resistance, they were being forced back. Without air support, the Yukes forces on the ground would not last much longer against his pilots.

Five Mig 21's and one F-5 headed towards the battlefield. In the distance, Susan could see that there was no shortage of Versuan fighters. There were at least twenty enemy planes there, of various different types. But the difference in numbers did not phase Susan in the slightest. It was as though a sense of complete detachment had settled over her.

Squadron Leader Carl Zeph didn't realise it at first when the first fighter went down. He thought that ground fire had gotten it. Then he saw a Yuke Mig 21 shoot up the very troops he was protecting, the Migs UV-16-57 rocket pod emptying itself into the troops few armoured vehicles. But this was the last mistake this Yuke would ever make, of that he was sure. With a growl he threw his plane, an old Mig 19 Farmer down towards what he believed was the only Yuke fighter in the area.

Susan looked up to see no fewer than fifteen planes diving on her. She grinned. Things were going as planned.

Charles watched as four Mig 19's, two F-104 Starfighters, six Folland Gnats and five Aermacchi MB-326's all dived on Susan. Surely they couldn't all be that badly trained he thought to himself. And yet it was clear they were. After all, what kind of trained pilot didn't look UP. He sighed to himself. "All pilots begin your attack. Good hunting." He said. What he didn't add was that it would be pretty hard not to.

Carl watched the Yuke turn his fighter around to face him. He approved of that. He wanted his kill to be a man, not one of those freaky females the Yukes had let into their airforce. He was sure that no mere woman would dare face him. Suddenly and without warning, two of the fighters that were flying beside him exploded as two missiles flew into their tailpipes. Looking up he saw four Mig 21's and one F-5 decimate his command in a matter of seconds. Out of the fourteen planes that had followed him down, only four remained. But in the heat of the moment he made a cardinal error. He forgot about Susan's plane.

Pulling her nose up slightly Susan's thumb pressed down on the cannon firing button and 23mm shells tore into the cockpit of the Mig 19 in front of her. Susan watched with grim satisfaction as her pilots proceeded to decimate the Versuan force. Those who were left fled, more scared of Susan's squadron than they were of their own leaders.

Susan's squadron tore into the Versuans ranks with deadly efficiency. Cannon fire, rockets and bombs all decimated the Versuans. The ground forces drove them back thanks to the air support. But as the Versuans retreated, a lucky shot with an anti-tank missile hit the last Fishbed in line.

"This is Ferret. My plane is damaged. Looks like one of those third-rate amateurs managed to hit me after all."

"This is Major Hawkins in command of the ground forces. We can handle things here. Get your pilot back to base."

"Roger that. This is Lightening to all planes. We will escort Ferret back to base."

Elena made it back to base, but as she landed, her undercarriage collapsed and she broke several of her bones in the resulting crash. The other pilots visited her in turn, each determined to look after one of their own. Even one as unpopular as Elena. When Susan visited her, she could see that the normally caustic, peroxide blonde girl was unusually subdued. She had a downcast look in her green eyes and usually Susan would have asked her what was wrong, but right now Susan was just too tired to care.

AN: Sorry this ones late. I would have put this up yesterday but was having trouble.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See page 1

Susan sat there with the squadron yearbook sitting in her lap. As the squadron leader she was supposed to be responsible for the people under her command. She shook her head. That sort of thinking did nobody any good whatsoever. Her pilots needed her, now more than ever.

She looked around at the remaining pilots. Simon and Lewis sat in a corner playing chess. Those two were so close they could have been brothers. She didn't know them well but she knew that Simon was the joker of the group, always smiling. The absence of that smile depressed her. Lewis on the other hand was a dreamer, who frequently got roped into whatever plans Simon came up with.

Now they were almost half of the squadron's strength. Charles was in the air, flying a defensive CAP and Lionel was working on his plane. It had been less than a few hours since they had repulsed the Versuans attack and everyone was on the edge. A second attack on the base seemed to inevitable and everyone who could fly was just waiting, waiting for the signal to get airborne.

The first attack came at midnight. Susan saw the glow of a jet engine as she was flying at the edge of her CAP. Flying closer she saw that it was a squadron of Aeritalia G91 Gina's. There was only one force in the region that would use G91's. Locking her missiles on their tailpipes, a slight whoosh sound came from her wings as two R-60 missiles left her wings.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl until the two missiles hit the enemy planes, lighting up the sky with their flames. Suddenly time sped up again as the Versuans panicked. Two of the planes flew into each other as they desperately attempted to turn their planes to face their enemy. One flew into the ground, causing no damage but lighting up the scene. Then came reinforcements in the shape of her squadron.

"This is Knight. Engaging."

"This is Rook. Engaging."

"This is Pulse. Engaging"

"This is Judgement. Engaging."

The Versuans didn't know where to turn to. Despite having numerical superiority, they were torn to shreds. Knight (Simon) launched his R-60 missiles into the front two fighters, right into their air intakes. Rook (Lewis) on the other hand used his cannon to chew apart the two G91's who obligingly flew into his sights.

Pulse and Judgement on the other hand threw themselves after the fleeing fighters.

Charles fighter caught the first enemy plane with an R-60 missile, meanwhile Judgement used his sidewinders to deadly effect as he caught the second Gina diving. Smiling to himself as he watched the plane dive he fired his sidewinder. This guy was the only one he had seen do anything approaching professional. Pulling his nose up, he saw the last Gina float into his sights. As he fired his cannon however he was not alone. A Mig 21 with a lightning streak on its side had also had the same idea. The Gina exploded as the two planes fired.

"Sorry about that Judgement. Still half a kill is better than none I suppose."

"No worries Lightning. Hey is it me or are we all still here? We've just taken out an entire squadron and we don't have so much as a scratch."

"This is Rook. Didn't you hear what Susan said when this all kicked off? We're the best." To which they all cheered.

Unfortunately this raid was the first of many. Time and again the Versuans threw themselves at them. The rest of the week passed in a blur of tiredness as time and time again. Lionel's plane crashed on landing, but he escaped unharmed and instead used one of the spare Mig 21's lying around. At the beginning of the second week however Susan decided that a change of tactics was needed as the promised reinforcements had yet to arrive.

"Right this is what's going to happen. We know that these attacks are trying to wear us down. Sooner or later we'll start losing pilots to them as we start making errors from tiredness. We've been able to extrapolate where their coming from and so I have decided to take out their bases one at a time. Now be careful during these attacks, I don't want to lose any more pilots to them." Susan said to the still far too empty briefing room.

Ho Chang airfield, thirty minutes later.

General Ali looked at his pilots. They stood in front of him with gaps in their ranks. Destroying the enemy pilots who held him up had become an obsession with him. He had shot one of his officers earlier that day for suggesting that he focus his planes on his enemies. Despite the fact that he knew that his original goals were unobtainable, the attacks pointless, he continued to attack.

"Pilots" he began in an angry tone. "You have betrayed the trust placed in you as the strength of my arm, the trust of your forefathers and the.." at this point cannon fire tore into their assembled ranks. Looking up he saw the five planes attacking the airfield. At this point he decided to follow the example of his men and flee.

Susan looked at the airfield in front of her. Enemy planes were almost obligingly lined up together. Then she saw the pilots all lined on parade and brought her cannon to bear. She didn't need to tell her pilots what to do, they already knew, of that she was sure. Bringing her thumb over the cannon-firing button, she pressed down. Behind her so did everyone else.

The surviving pilots had either fled or desperately tried to get in the air. Those that attempted to get airborne however failed as they were destroyed before they even got airborne, bombs hitting planes and runways alike.

As the planes departed, General Ali growled with frustration. His airforce was no more. Now he would use his one last trump card against them. He didn't care about the fact that the Yukes would destroy him, well beyond anything they would have done before. In his mind only one thing mattered any more. The destruction of his vile enemy, no matter what.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See page 1

AN: I seem to have gotten people confused with my last chapter so I'll try to clear things up. When people refer to the Yukes in this story, they are referring to Susan and co. Seriously that's the force they're part of.

Susan smiled to herself. She doubted that there would be any further air attacks coming anytime soon. The next aircraft she wanted to see was planes with the friendly marks of the Yuke airforce. She contemplated her life and what she wanted to do when this was over. Marry Charles certainly and possibly leave the airforce, go into the technology industry, she always was good with computers. Then there was a movement in the corner of her eye and she realised that it wasn't over yet.

Two Osean built cruise missiles flew past them. Why hadn't they seen them before? Susan idly wondered before a flash of foreboding hit her. Pushing her plane as hard as possible, her engine screaming at being pushed to its very limits. Beside her was Charles, he to clearly had the same idea as her. She didn't know what warhead that missile was carrying but it obviously was no regular warhead or the Versuans would have used them earlier.

"Pulse to Lightning. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Lightning to Pulse. Yes I am. It's either nuclear, biological or chemical. Where do they get these weapons from?"

"Leave that to the Intel boys" Judgements voice cut across their chatter. "We should concentrate on taking out those missiles."

Susan grimaced. Almost painfully slowly her plane began to close the gap between her and the missile. By unspoken agreement, she took the left one, Charles the right. Locking an R-60 on the cruise missiles engine she heard the now familiar whoosh of a missile leaving the rails, closing on its target. A second later Charles fired at his target. Susan's target went down without a fuss, but Charles's target exploded with a nuclear blast.

"Pulse, you ok buddy?" Rook called out over the radio.

"I'm fine. I just need a moment for my eyes to recover that's all" he replied and Susan sighed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately he didn't have a moment. The last Versuan fighter, a Mirage III pumped cannon shells into his cockpit, instantly killing him.

General Ali snarled as he saw the explosion. The nukes had been a last option. Then he saw one of the damn Yuke Fishbeds right in front of him, its pilot clearly disorientated from the explosion. His cannon shells tore into the planes cockpit, killing its pilot instantly.

As Susan saw her fiancé die, a cold fury came over her. In a cold commanding voice she said

"This is Lightning. This ones mine."

General Ali grinned as he saw one of the Fishbeds turning to engage him. He was an experienced pilot and unlike his own pilots he was capable of holding his own in a fight.

The first clue that Susan had that her opponent was no ordinary pilot came when he pulled his plane into a sharp turn to the left, pulling himself out of her gunsights. Pulling herself round, she pulled her plane into a sharp 9g turn, her plane shuddering under the stress. Pulling onto his tail she locked a missile onto him. But when she launched her last missile he spun, releasing chaff and flares behind him, causing the missile to miss.

That was close thought General Ali as he dodged the missile. Deliberately stalling his engine, he let her plane overshoot him. But Susan was far from stupid. A natural pilot, she jinked upward and narrowly avoided flying into his gunsights.

Susan turned and jinked her plane using every manoeuvre she knew but no matter what she did the Mirage stayed on her tail. In desperation to lose him she began a manoeuvre that bordered on suicide.

General Ali stared at the enemy plane as it began to dive almost vertically. Surely the pilot wasn't suicidal. As the plane flashed past him he made a cardinal error. He followed her down.

Susan smiled grimly as she watched the Mirage follow her down. She needed him to stay on her tail.

At less than fifty feet from the ground the Mig pulled up. General Ali pulled his joystick back and suddenly discovered why the Mig had dived

Susan watched in satisfaction as she saw the Mirage dive past her, its slightly greater weight working against it. Her own plane had almost torn itself to pieces as she pulled up harder than she had ever done before.

Grunting with exertion, General Ali pulled the nose of his plane up with less than a metre between him and the ground. His engine was making dust clouds on the desert floor as it screamed in protest against its treatment.

Susan saw the enemy Mirage pull up. But he was wide open to her now. With a short cannon burst she killed the man responsible for all this death. Feeling suddenly weary of everything, she called what was left of her squadron. "This is Lightning to all pilots. Let's go home."

One month later.

Susan looked at the pregnancy test once more. There was no doubt about it, she was pregnant. When they had returned to base, they received a heroes welcome. Everyone wanted to meet the pilots who had held their own against such huge numbers and had saved the city of Kalgrad from nuclear devastation. (No one was sure that it was Kalgrad, but it seemed to be a safe bet) but Susan and the others had chosen not to say anything to the collection of press reporters that had gathered there. At Charles funeral she cried as his ashes were scattered. He would have wanted that, she was sure.

Now she had to decide whether to tell his family that she was having his child. Under ordinary circumstances she wouldn't of hesitated but Charles's parents had never approved of her and they would most likely push her to have an abortion, preferring Charles to die childless than to have someone like her have his child.

Eight months later.

Susan looked at the face of her new-born child as she held her in her arms. A shock of red hair covered her head and she had her mother's eyes. Yes she had no doubts about her decision to have her.

Susan had finally told Charles's family about the immanent arrive of Willhemia Vandom a month ago, deciding that they should know about Charles child when it was too late to stop her being born. His parents had refused to have anything to do with the child but the rest of his family was more than willing to help. Her own family, especially her parents had also been a great support.

General Phobos snarled as he read the analysis of what went wrong with the Versuan venture. His plans against Ustio would have to wait.

Willhemia Vandom continued to sleep, knowing nothing of her future, knowing nothing of her destiny, which would change the course of human history forever.

AN: Yes I know that the final trump card was a little flat but come on. General Ali is essentially a third world warlord and he'd have difficulty building superweapons like Stonehenge and co. I was going to have Susan marry Thomas at the end of this but changed my mind, so Susan is going to be a single mum. As always read and review.


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